Chapter 159
Chapter 159
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 159
Chapter Title: The Dungeon's Hidden Master
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Going up, I had been wrapped in vines and hauled skyward like a blanket being shaken out to dry, but coming down, I landed on the ground nestled in Kang Han's arms, savoring a ride smoother than any elevator.
"Haa."
I nearly died.
But the relief of being alive lasted only a moment.
"How did you end up climbing up there?"
"More importantly, why did you stray from the campsite, Nayeo-ju?"
Kang Han and Yoo Jin-rok had zeroed in from both sides with the two questions that were hardest to answer.
Can I just climb back up?
"Uh, um. Well..."
After a moment's hesitation, I decided to go with the best possible strategy.
"I don't really remember."
Pretending not to remember is the way to go when you can't give a straight answer.
And I layered on one more technique.
"I woke up from the nightmare pretty quickly, but my mind didn't fully clear. Oh, and it feels like I might have gone to catch Na Baekho when he suddenly bolted this way..."
"Kyung?"
Ah, you stay quiet.
Pinning the blame on my speechless familiar pricked at my conscience a bit, but survival came first.
My plan to sneak back to the campsite before everyone woke up had failed anyway, so no choice.
"Sometimes your memories get jumbled after a Nightmare hits."
Yang Hwa-yeon, ever the innocent one, nodded and backed up my white lie.
"Phew, you have no idea how worried we were. I thought my heart was going to drop out."
Kang Han placed both hands on his hips and let out a sigh.
I did feel a little guilty.
"Unnie, are you hurt anywhere?"
Lee Yu-eul spun me around to check.
"Nah. Just a bit of a headache, otherwise fine."
"A headache means you're not fine!"
Lee Yu-chan pulled a bottle of Im Cheong-su balm from his sub-space and pressed it into my hand—his spare, apparently.
"I'll go smash that vine monster."
Jang Su-ho, seething with anger for some reason, grabbed his dagger and headed off to deal with the Green Swamp.
The ever-gentle Han Ji-seong said nothing.
He just patted my back, murmuring that I'd been through a lot.
I thought I'd successfully pinned everything on the Nightmare and escaped unscathed.
"Nayeo-ju, looks like you went that way too, right?"
Yoo Jin-rok pointed toward the path from the secret room I'd visited.
Ah, right—this uncle has a tracking skill.
"Uh... kinda seems like it. My head cleared midway, and I tried heading back to camp, but I got lost, so it's all fuzzy."
"That could have been disastrous. The monsters in this dungeon aren't field-fixed. If you'd run into one wandering alone like that..."
Yoo Jin-rok shook his head, as if the mere thought made him dizzy.
But the twins, back to their usual selves, didn't miss the chance to tease.
"You did run into a monster. One that hadn't even bloomed yet—poison ivy vines."
"Pfft."
Those little punks!
Even if it was true!
That was when it happened.
Na Baekho, who had been quietly sticking by my side ever since I touched down, finally caused trouble.
"Woof!"
With a booming bark, the white tiger took off as if beckoning us to follow.
The direction? Straight toward the secret room passage I'd just awkwardly glossed over.
"Hey! Na Baekho! Where are you going!"
"Looks like Baekho wants to show us something. Let's follow."
In the end, Kang Han took the lead, trailing after Na Baekho.
Ah, this is driving me crazy.
And just like that, our group and the Magma Guild ended up right in front of the secret room door.
"Woof! Woof!"
"Baekho, something here?"
"Woof!"
What's there? I already looted it all!
It was a well-hidden door, but with Na Baekho yelling "Right here!", Kang Han wasn't about to miss it.
Click.
With a small sound, the secret room door finally swung open.
"What... is this place?"
My startled mutter.
From me, of all people—the one who'd already gulped down potions from this secret room.
"A hidden space with yet another secret door."
Han Ji-seong looked around in wonder.
The only secret of this maze dungeon mentioned in the [Sejong Edition] was one thing.
The permanent stamina-boosting potion I'd drunk.
But there was another hidden space?
And this wasn't some cramped room like where the chests had been.
The empty cavern was vast enough to fit the Justice Guild's massive simulation training ground.
"Feels like wind coming from somewhere over there."
Yoo Jin-rok pointed in one direction, his tracker senses sharpened.
But there was only a pitch-black wall.
"Two hidden doors already—wouldn't be shocked if there's a third."
"A... third door?"
I nearly flipped over in shock, for real.
Double-layered wasn't enough—they went for triple?
Is it safe to open that one?
That was when I had the thought.
The moment Yoo Jin-rok touched a single brick, a massive rumble echoed from beyond the wall.
Rumble, thud.
Like some enormous mechanism grinding to life.
At the same time, one wall forming the cavern's side began to shift.
Smoothly, silently, like an automatic door sliding open.
And beyond it, a tiny figure was crafting something.
"What the heck is that?"
Yang Hwa-yeon's startled exclamation made it whip around in surprise.
The instant my eyes met what looked like a mole...
I quickly checked the info on the "real dungeon boss."
You—why are you here?
"Ah? It's running away!"
While the hunters were caught off-guard by the sudden system window, Lee Yu-eul spotted the hidden boss bolting and shouted.
Flash! Boom!
Kang Han unleashed lightning, but it dodged nimbly and picked up even more speed.
Crack!
Han Ji-seong's Ice Spear missed by a hair too.
Confirming their attacks couldn't keep up with the hidden boss's pace, the hunters all broke into a sprint.
The gap closed in a flash—faster than any normal eyes could track—but only for a moment.
"Eek!"
The thing let out a bizarre shriek and flailed its hands toward the air.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Walls dropped from all sides, turning the empty space into a maze in the blink of an eye.
"Everyone okay?"
"Looks like the camera crew couldn't get into the maze."
The panic from the sudden twist was short-lived.
Yoo Jin-rok, who had already tagged the hidden boss with a tracking mark, pointed to the left fork.
"That way. We have five minutes to find it."
The limit of his real-time tracking skill as a C-rank tracker.
"Five minutes is plenty."
Kang Han scooped up Nayeo-ju with a curt reply.
"Let's go, Nayeo-ju-ssi."
Riding in Kang Han's arms was comfortable for my body, but my mind was a whirlwind of chaos.
This guy with his own name had definitely been mentioned in the [Sejong Edition].
The being that revealed the secret behind the mutant gates starting to appear in earnest.
But it was hiding here?
All I'd wanted was to loot some potions.
Things were spiraling way out of control.
Even amid the chaos, Kang Han—now mostly back to his S-rank form thanks to my interference—tore through the maze at speeds too fast for proper threat detection.
"Huff, huff."
That was when harsh breaths started escaping Yoo Jin-rok's lips.
"Eek!"
We cornered Mollrig, fidgeting anxiously in a dead-end nook of the maze.
Up close, it looked pathetically unimpressive for a dungeon's hidden boss.
A bit bigger than a mole, sure, but that was it.
Its fur was patchy, and its eyes were milky and degenerated.
The moment Kang Han set me back down, it flailed at the air again.
But this time was different.
Boom!
Before the wall could drop, Kang Han blasted it with lightning, shattering it.
Confirming Yoo Jin-rok shielding me from the crumbling stone chunks raining down, Kang Han turned back to Mollrig and growled low.
"Where do you think you're hiding now."